He's alright
by Dellinah
Summary: "Hiro's not gone. He's alright." Tadashi said to himself when he woke up. One-shot.


**I broke my foot a few days ago and wrote this down on my phone while I was on the line to get a wheelchair. I'm sorry if it's rushed or bad, but I had taken many painkillers that day lol.**

 **Writting my multi-chapter fic "Looking for a new little angle" is being** **exhaustive; so I decided to go back to writing Big Hero 6 one-shots to relax a little. Hopefully I'll be refreshed enough after this to write the next chapter.**

 **That's it, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Tadashi nudged Hiro's side and nodded toward the bridge. He started to walk and his little brother followed him. Hiro walked beside his older brother, a little confused to where they were going, but he leaned up against the railing of the bridge after watching Tadashi do so.

"Hey, I... I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Hiro stopped talking and looked down; embarassed or maybe just looking for the right words. He took his hoodie off and tied it around his neck using its sleeves before finally leaning up against the bridge again and looking up at his older brother. "So... You know, thanks for not giving up on me."

Tadashi smiled, proud at himself for bringing Hiro there and changing his point of view; but mostly proud of his little brother for everything. For creating the microbots, for wanting to go to college, for giving up on those stupid bot-fights, and for being who he was. The older was about to wrap his arms around Hiro and give him a big hug when a loud and deafening alarm sounded through the air.

Confused, the two brothers turned around. Scared screams started to be heard, and that was enough to make them run toward the sound. The closer they got to the building, the hotter it got. When they finally came around the corner, they saw it. The hall was up in flames. It was like a living hell in front of their eyes, not a single part of it seemed to be untouched by fire as everything came down.

"My microbots!" Hiro shouted, horror and desperation could be seen sparkling in his big brown eyes. He started to run toward the fire; Tadashi was so enraptured by the catastrophe in front of him that it took him a moment to process what Hiro had said and what Hiro was doing. When he finally shook his head and came back to reality, his little brother wasn't by his side anymore.

"Hiro!" Tadashi screamed, trying to dodge the people coming toward him as they tried to escape from the fire. He spotted a young boy with messy hair on the very bottom of the staircase, getting closer and closer to the fire. Tadashi tried to run faster, and somehow he managed to catch up and reach Hiro when the path was clear once everyone had already ran away. Now it was only the two of them in front of the building.

The older Hamada reached out and grabbed Hiro's hoodie by the hood, pushing his brother a step back. "Hiro, you can't..." Before he could say anything else, Hiro untied the sleeves of his hoodie and freed himself from his brother's hold. Tadashi felt the sudden relapse, and when he looked back he saw that all he was holding was a hoodie as Hiro entered the burning building and disappeared into the fire.

"Hiro, don't! Hiro!"

If the younger heard Tadashi calling, he ignored it, for he didn't come back out. Tadashi's instincts told him to turn around and run away from the fire as fast as he could; but his heart told him to go inside and save his brother. He gave a step foward, but coughed and hesitaded. The conflict inside his body made it hard to think, but he gripped the hoodie in his hands harder as he took a deep breath.

 _I can't lose him._

He started to run and managed to give three steps toward the building when something inside the school hall exploded. It pushed its way outside; forcing a powerful and heavy gust of air out. Nothing was spared of the fire's anger, for it knocked everything it found over in its path. Including Tadashi. He was thrown back to the spot where he was before he tried to run; releasing the hoodie on the process.

Tadashi felt a sharping pain in his head when it hit the concrete, passing out for a moment. He blinked his eyes open and had his attention not been on the fire in front of him, he would have cried because of all the pain he felt going through his entire body. He noticed everything was coming down; quickly collapsing as every inch of the building was taken by the flames.

And it trapped Hiro inside it.

The boy's hoodie lay on the ground, forgotten. Tadashi sat up on his elbows as silent tears fell from his eyes and he tried to breathe. He felt like his heart was being pulled down by burning chains. He choked when he tried to call for his brother. "Hiro..." Tadashi stood up and reached out, as if trying to grab Hiro and bring him back outside. He nearly stepped on the hoodie, but he didn't notice it was there until he fell on his knees.

Looking down, he grabbed Hiro's hoodie and pressed it against his chest.

"Hiro!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in the air as it was muffled by the sounds of the fire. It didn't matter how hard he tried; nothing would be enough to reach his little brother.

* * *

Tadashi bolt upright in his bed as he gasped awake, looking around and panting. The room was dimly lit, but it was enough for him to see he was on his bed and that the partition that separated his part of the room from Hiro's was closed. Tadashi put his hand to his forehead to wipe the sweat away, but when he did so he realized he was crying. Images of his dream flashed in his mind, and he shook his head to try to make them go away.

After a few failed tries to catch his breath, Tadashi stood up and walked up to the partition, opening it until he was able to leave his part of the room. "Hiro, you wouldn't believe the dream I just..."

He trailed off when he turned his head and looked at Hiro's part of the room. It was empty. Hiro's bed was made, his hoodie was carefully folded over it; as if Hiro hadn't slept there or worn the hoodie in a long time. Tadashi's heart started to beat fast as his mind jumbled several thoughts yet he couldn't concentrate on any of them. He walked up to Hiro's bed, feeling so dizzy and confused that he wobbled and would have fallen over had he not set his hands on Hiro's bed and balanced himself.

After a deep breath, he straightened himself up and grabbed the hoodie, unfolding it.

 _No..._

Hiro couldn't be gone. He wouldn't run into a burning building like that. It was something Tadashi would do to save someone, but not Hiro. His younger brother couldn't be gone. He would never enter a burning building to save his microbots. Tadashi would have held him back and dragged Hiro away from the fire with all of his will if he had to.

 _He can't be gone. He can't be gone!_ Tadashi's mind screamed at himself.

Tadashi shook his head and started to hyperventilate. He wanted to shout, but he couldn't wake aunt Cass up. Feeling his knees go weak, he fell on the ground and tried to catch his breath. It didn't work. He was letting too much air in and not enough air out; for he felt his throat was being locked up as if someone was trying to strangle him.

"Tadashi?"

In a jump, the older Hamada stood up and turned around nearly falling over due to the shock of someone calling him out of nowhere. He was holding the hoodie so tightly that his knuckles were getting white, but his hands relaxed when he saw his younger brother standing there, a few feet away from him.

"What's wrong?" The younger questioned after Tadashi's lack of reply.

In the blink of an eye, Tadashi knelt down again and wrapped his arms around Hiro's neck. A few tears went down his eyes, but those were relieved tears. Hiro wasn't dead. He caressed his brother's messy hair and hugged him like he was the most precious thing in the whole world; trying to keep himself from squeezing Hiro to death, but still hugging him as tight as he could.

Hiro gasped at the sudden touch, and his hands fluttered around his brother because he wasn't sure of what to do. When he heard Tadashi sobbing, he took a deep breath and finally hugged his brother back, wrapping his arms around Tadashi. The older one listened to Hiro's heartbeat and breath, which allowed him to calm down a little. _It was just a nightmare. He is here. He is alright. I won't let anything bad happen to him. Hiro is safe._

For the first time that night, Tadashi smiled.

* * *

"What was that about?" The younger of the two quietly asked when they finally pulled away.

Tadashi stood up and smiled, scratching the back of his head and handing Hiro his hoodie. "Nothing. I had a nightmare and needed a hug." Tadashi hated to seem weak in front of Hiro. He was supposed to take care of his younger brother, and for that he needed to be strong. "It's late and your bed was made, where were you? You got me worried."

"Well, after we came back from the showcase I was so tired that I passed out on the couch. I woke up now and decided to finish the night in my bed. I guess aunt Cass made it while you were sleeping." Hiro shrugged as he sat down on his bed. "I think I'm a little nervous because I'll be going to college tomorrow. Do you think I'll do well?"

Tadashi mentally slapped himself. Of course, the showcase. Hiro had been accepted and now he was going to college with Tadashi. That was probably the reason why he had had that awful nightmare. He softly shook his head and sat down by Hiro's side, tapping his brother's back. "Hey, of course you'll do well. You're smart and your microbots are impressive. Also, remember: I'm not giving up on you."

The young boy softly smiled and wrapped his arms around Tadashi. "Thank you, nii-san."

"Anytime, Hiro." Tadashi smiled back, sighing and wrapping his arms around Hiro as he felt relieved once more that his brother wasn't dead. "Anytime."

* * *

 **So I've read a lot of fanfics where Hiro has a nightmare and Tadashi is there to comfort him. While I did enjoy them, I started to think about how it would be the other way around. However, I don't see Hiro comforting Tadashi. I don't feel like the younger Hamada is good with emotions; of course he has them, but I don't think he'd know how to comfort someone. Then this is how I imagine that would turn out. I don't think Hiro would enter a burning building to save his microbots, but remember it was just a dream.**

 **I think Tadashi is scared that his little brother is growing up and that's why he had that nightmare, perhaps? Get over it, Tadashi. He's not a kid anymore.**

 **Well, thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. See you next fic!**


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